SFC: Ramor book quarter-final slot

Ramor United continued to impress in the senior football championship tonight with a late win over Killygarry at Kingspan Breffni Park.

For the second time in the space of six days, Gary Farrelly's men came from behind in the closing 20 minutes to snatch victory in the dying stages with full-forward Adrian Cole making a huge impact for them down the final stretch.

The concession of two first-half goals didn't bode well for the winners, with Shane Cole having netted them three in front on 17 minutes, but Killygarry demonstrated the firepower they possess via majors from Donal Thomas and Martin Reilly (penalty).

Ciaran O'Reilly's side would have had a third major early in the second-half but for a fine save from Aaron Farrelly in the Ramor goal and it acted as a turning point, with full-forward Cole and Jack Brady sending over the points before the former earned a penalty which Cathal Maguire dispatched. From there, the momentum was totally with the Virginia outfit and despite Killygarry getting level late in the hour they displayed tremendous resolve to kick the last three scores for a berth in the quarter-finals.

Truth be told, the opening quarter was poor stuff to watch with the sides registering 0-2 each before the opening goal breathed some much needed life into the game. Some great work by Adrian Cole set Maguire loose through Killygarry's centre and he unselfishly offloaded to Shane Cole, who did the rest from close range.

Reilly and Ross Sheridan put up points to start a recovery from Killygarry which soon turned into an assault as Thomas shot them back into the lead (after early overs from Cathal Keaney and Mattie McKenna), having been set up at his full-forward station by Keaney in the 26th minute.

Things went from bad to worse for the Virginia men a minute later when Thomas grabbed the rebound of a rasping Brendan Murray shot that came back off the bar and saw his low shot foot-blocked in the small square. Referee Ollie Donohoe put up horizontal arms which saw Reilly tuck away the resultant penalty superbly.

Crucially, the last two scores of the half came Ramor's way, as they reasserted themselves around the centre, with Maguire drilling over and Brady adding his second free, leaving it at 2-4 to 1-4 by the halfway stage.

Brady's first from play was an encouraging restart for the victors but they had to rely on Farrelly to bail them out when Thomas was presented with his third goal opportunity, turning the big target man's low shot around the post.

Brady (free) and a gem from Adrian Cole trimmed the difference down to one for the town outfit, as they started to look the more likely side after 10 minutes of the second-half.

Reilly (free) and Keaney pushed the difference back to three for the Crubany men, but that was all erased in an instant when Adrian Cole ripped through Killygarry's rear guard and darted towards the town end goal. Killygarry had little choice but to impede him and it gave Maguire the chance to level, which he dually did by dispatching the ball low past Paddy Galligan.

It all made for an intriguing final quarter, the first minute of which saw Brady hand Ramor back the initiative via a free. The Cavan forward would repeat the trick in the 53rd minute to really put the heat on Killygarry, whom needed their key men to stand up in the last five.

To their credit, Reilly and minor star Darragh Gannon did exactly that, nailing pressure frees, but it still wouldn't be enough with Ramor having plenty left in the tank as late scores from Daire Sheridan, Adrian Cole and Eoin Sommerville dually demonstrated.